The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Geli
Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 021 – Leonhart’s Worry [A]
—Ludo-Rathowm Continent, eastern region.
It was home to the Demon Army, which was built over 200 years ago.
The dwelling of the maou, the ruler of the world — Maou Castle.
Two human figures could be seen in the corridor of Maou Castle’s first floor. However, they were not humans. With a few exceptions, like the chefs, any humanoid figures there were demons who had the appearance of humans.
The two people who walked as they were having a conversation were majins.
“Galtia… how many times do I have to tell you to not eat in the middle of the battle? You already ate that much during the march and the meeting as well.”
“I just can’t help it. I was starving there.”
“I told you to just endure it for a bit.”
“Eeh… even if you put it like that, can you endure your own urges when you want to cut people down?”
“Don’t say it like I am some sort of a serial slasher! I can endure that, and it wasn’t like I was slashing at people because I liked doing it!”
“Really? Then let’s put my analogy aside. Let’s go eat.”
“You really don’t listen to people at all…”
They were Majin Leonhart and Majin Galtia.
The two majin continued to argue as they returned from the battlefield — although only one of them was actually angry.
“I told you—Ah?”
“—Oh.”
However, both of them raised their voices at the same time as they saw the person who awaited them at the end of the corridor.
When they found that person, they walked a little faster and approached them. As for who that person was—
“Leonhart, Galtia. Welcome back.”
“…Aah, I’m back, Ssulal.”
“Oou, I’m back.”
The person they exchanged greetings with was a girl with gray hair and red eyes who gave the impression of great intelligence.
—She was none other than Maou Ssulal.
Looking at her smiling expression as she greeted them, Leonhart seemed to notice something and opened his mouth.
“You… don’t tell me you’ve been waiting here all this time?”
“Ah? Really?”
Galtia who heard that also turned to her in confirmation.
On the other, Ssulal retorted back while looking a little bit embarrassed,
“I-isn’t it okay to do that? I heard you’ll be back by today so I thought it would be about time for you to return. Rather, how did you realize it?”
Ssulal responded to Leonhart’s straightforward question. When she shot back with a question, Leonhart sighed lightly.
“…Just a feeling, I guess.”
“Eh? A feeling?”
The answer made Ssulal’s eyes open wide. As he looked at her expression, Leonhart thought it was funny and smiled a little.
“I figured it was something you might do, so I just guessed that earlier.”
“…He-hey, what’s with that!”
Ssulal retorted curtly while looking upward as she heard Leonhart’s teasing words. It was no longer an unusual sight to see Leonhart teasing Ssulal like this.
When Galtia heard that, he began to comb through his memory.
“Now that I think about it, Leonhart has been more sensitive about detecting presences lately… perhaps it’s not an empty guess.”
“Just how much do you want to treat me as some kind of monster… That won’t be just detecting a presence anymore, but something already closer to precognition. Also, I don’t want to hear that from someone like you, who has a built-in radar inside of you.”
“Hahah, sorry about that. Considering your recent activity, I can’t help but think that it is possible that you are truly capable of such a thing.”
“He~h, Leonhart has been active recently.”
“…Hm, no… well.”
“? What’s wrong?”
Although Ssulal was pleased with Leonhart’s success, the person in question didn’t seem to be too excited about it, so she questioned him while tilting her head.
“What is it? Are you worried about something?”
Galtia also asked him about it. The topic already switched to asking about Leonhart’s worries. Even though he didn’t confirm whether or not he had one yet.
“…No, it’s not a big deal, though.”
Despite saying that, Leonhart had a furrowed expression. He wondered for a while whether he should tell them about it or not, but perhaps because of the trust he had put in Ssulal and Galtia or maybe because it really wasn’t a big deal, he easily divulged it.
“Recently, fighting has become troublesome—Aah, I guess… that’s not the right word for it. How do I say it— It’s not stimulating enough.”
“Sti-stimulating?”
“What do you mean?”
Both Ssulal and Galtia questioned him at the same time. Then they listened as Leonhart explained.
“When I battle against an enemy or engage in a duel, the enemy is so weak that it’s not enough to excite me… it no longer feels fun. Although, when I devoted myself to commanding troops, I was so focused that I didn’t really care at the time.”
Leonhart explained it seriously.
“I have fun swinging my sword around, but if the opponent is weak, it will be over in no time. However, I don’t want to just swing my sword for no reason at all, and genocide isn’t my thing. The most fun I’ve had in recent years would be when I had a strategic victory against an enemy with a capable strategist, and about twenty years ago when I half-jokingly quarreled with Camilla. At the time, both of us almost got serious, so it was quite dangerous.”
“If I’m not wrong, that time was… eh, wait. Eh? It’s that kind of worry?”
“Ah—… you got a serious issue there.”
Ssulal and Galtia sighed in astonishment. Then Ssulal smiled back with a slightly troubled expression.
“…Really, Leonhart. I know you love swinging your sword, but don’t think too much about it, okay?
“It’s not like I don’t understand, but that’s how battle is, right? That’s what we end up doing if we grow too strong.”
“I know it very well. I do my job seriously, and the only time I seek it is when I have no choice but to battle directly against an opponent… However, it makes me feel like I’m a bomb that gets snuffed before I can completely detonate…”
“How about you try to vent it out through other activities?”
A reply came immediately at Ssulal’s proposal.
“I’ve already done it. It’s quite effective since I don’t have to think about it too much outside the battle… ah, I just remembered. This book is really interesting.”
“Really?! Hey, which part is interesting?”
“The reconciliation scene between Tae and Kanako is quite good. It was quite common, but Tae’s caustic words stunned me.”
“Ah, I also loved that scene. Moreover, that is also the same place where they talked with Kei, so it makes it better.”
“I personally like the fight between Kei and Mao. Also—“
“Ah—… sorry, but if this discussion is going to drag out, can we go to the dining room first? I’m starving.”
Galtia poured cold water over the two’s excited conversation. As he scratched his head, he felt a little guilty for doing that. The two people in question also felt a little bad about it.
“Ah, sorry about that? I’ll cook for you later, so—“
“Okay, I’ll be waiting so make it right now!”
“Eh, right now?!”
“What a greedy guy…”
Leonhart mentally changed gears and told the two.
“Anyway, I still have work to do, so go on ahead and do what you want to do. Ssulal, we’ll talk about books later.”
“Ah, un.”
“Ooh, then let’s go to the dining room— no, since Ssulal would be cooking, then won’t it be better to go to your room instead?”
“Eh, I really have to make it right now?”
Leonhart left that area after saying goodbye to Ssulal and Galtia. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stay there and engage in some small talk, but he could do that later. He’d just returned from an expedition and quite a lot of work had also piled up.
However, once those things got taken care of, he would have time for things like that.
Though he said that he lacked stimulation earlier, he also had these kinds of days; he didn’t have any stress piled up.
“…It is troublesome, but I just have to do it quickly.”
As Leonhart said that, he gave a small smile while looking quite exasperated as he went to his room to take care of his work.
Leonhart had returned to his room earlier for work, but then he decided to take a short break and headed for the dining room.
There was a pair walking through the corridor, a man and a woman. As both parties noticed each other, the first one to talk was the long-haired man who stood behind the woman.
“Greetings, Leonhart-sama. I see you have returned from the expedition.”
“Shichisei, and—Camilla.”
“…Leonhart, huh.”
They looked at each other and each uttered the other party’s name. She was one of the majin who also held the seat as one of the Four Elite Majin — the platinum dragon majin, Camilla.
This peerless beauty, who had once led many dragons astray, shot a piercing gaze toward Leonhart.
However, since Leonhart didn’t have any business with her, he tried to leave—only to be stopped by Camilla.
“By the way…”
“? What is it?”
Camilla slowly opened her mouth. Camilla had become more active in the last 200 years, but her attitude hadn’t changed. Leonhart patiently waited for her reply, thinking she might have something to ask him.
“…Did you steal the prey… I was aiming for…?”
“Prey?”
“Leonhart-sama, it’s about the red-haired human from a few years ago.”
“…Ah, there was such a person.”
Leonhart recalled who she meant as Shichisei reminded him of the man’s characteristics. It was about a few years ago. There was a time when he went to the battlefield with Camilla and encountered a certain man who was good at escaping. The man, who had commanded a raid unit, possessed both capable fighting abilities and a superior mind for a human. This, in addition to his strong luck, allowed him to escape from his and Camilla’s armies. Leonhart didn’t face him directly at the time, but Camilla seemed to be eager to hunt that person with her own hand.
However,
“…Sorry, Camilla. I happened to find his unit a while ago— since they were in the way of the operation, I crushed them.”
“—!”
“—! Oops!”
In an instant, Camilla struck with her claw at ultra-high speed and the two collided. A screeching sound echoed throughout the hallway. Leonhart had drawn the Demonic Sword Orpheil from his back and deflected Camilla’s claw.
Leonhart just shrugged after being attacked by Camilla.
“Oi oi, isn’t that dangerous? If we fought seriously here, I might end up half-dead afterward and the castle would also be destroyed. More importantly, Ssulal would get angry at me, so please stop it… I’m sorry about that. I’ll do something to make up for it.”
Leonhart breezily quipped back. But he wasn’t wrong. If two of the Four Elite Majins were to fight there, not only would the area around them be destroyed, but also Ssulal had given an order as maou that forbade battle among fellow majins. —Especially between Leonhart and Camilla.
“…Fuhn.”
As she heard his apology, Camilla’s anger subsided.
While it was partly because of his words, that wasn’t the main reason. Her eyes caught Leonhart’s expression — and her mouth enticingly curved into a bow-like smile.
“…You sure have a smooth way of saying things. Although it was just for a moment… It looks like you had fun…? Do you want to dance with me that much…? Kuku…”
“…Of course, I’m honored to dance with a beauty like you. There’s no way I wouldn’t get excited about it.”
“Kuh… Kukuku… You sure have a lot of pent-up frustration…”
“Camilla-sama…”
It was as if she’d seen through beneath Leonhart’s façade, and perhaps because she also knew well about such feelings that Camilla found it interesting and laughed. Shichisei looked a little troubled as he saw her cheerful expression.
Camilla continued her words.
“It’s not like I don’t understand your worries… Since it has come to this… and also because of my gratitude for what you’ve helped me with, I shall give you some advice.”
“…To think that a day has come for Camilla to do something for my sake. Perhaps it will snow tomorrow?”
“Just consider this as my gratitude…”
“…”
Even as Leonhart teasingly responded, his expression was a serious one. He completely focused his attention on Camilla so that he wouldn’t miss a word that she’d say.
Camilla gave her advice with a smile lingering on her lips.
“If you live for so long… boredom is the worst poison… you will get used to it in time; I, too, didn’t hate such feelings…”
Leonhart listened to her words, which strangely seemed to imply something. He silently waited for her to continue. Soon enough, Camilla picked up where she left off.
“Then perhaps… with just a few changes… your everyday life could become extraordinary.”
“…Even though you talk of changes.”
“It is simple… In your case… yes… why don’t you make an apostle…?”
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